Job ads – telling it like it is
In 1913, Shackleton told it like it is.
"Men wanted for Hazardous Journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success."
Legend has it that 5000 men applied.
No one expects your company to be perfect, stay away from puffery.
Image: http://www.johnhyattillustration.com/men%20wanted.html
Great point.
However the Shackleton ad in question is more legend than fact as Shackleton’s biographers report that no copy has ever been produced to verify whether the oft-quoted ad ever got published.
Still, I like the legend, regardless how far away from reality it is.
You kidding, if more companies took the honest (yeah like this will happen) approach, they would find a more relevant candidate much easier. Ads today are in fact “legend” as very few companies actually put the “real” information in their ads. The competition for candidates has encouraged this. Now not all companies can be put in this basket however there are many who will say great wages, great perks and that might mean you get to have a 1 hour lunch or your paid industry standard at best.
If you have a look at internet job ads they all read the same these days. Four to five paragraph’s, same style, same paragraph layout, now the job boards have something to answer for in this as well. They preach they “know” the best way to write a job ad. Well I think those days are over. Job ads need a new format, new way of thinking of most of all a new lease on life to make them more visually appealing then the same old boring text we read job after job.